Flashbulb carrier



April 10, 1956 w. OLDEN FLASHBULB CARRIER Filed Sept. 19, 1952 INVENTOR. W/Z 1/14/ 1 OZDL'A United States Patent FLASHBULB CARRIER William Olden, New York, N. Y. Application September 19, 1952, Serial No. 316,497

Claims. (Cl. 224-5) The present invention relates to novel combination stor' ing, display and dispensing devices, in particular, for use in connection with bulbs, especially flashbulbs and the like.

It is one of the primary objects of this invention to provide means affording an inexpensive receptacle structure for storing therein flashbulbs and like articles which may be safely shipped and subsequently handled by the ultimate user for dispensing said articles from a carrier which is at first received in said receptacle structure and then removed therefrom for display and use of the articles.

It is another object of the invention to provide means facilitating removal of said carrier from said receptacle for display purposes and discharge of the article or articles from said carrier for rapid and successive. use in cameras and like optical devices. f

It is a further object of the invention to provide means rendering the possibility of employing a pull-string or strap which may serve as a handle for pulling the carrier out. of the receptacle and also as a holder for supporting said carrier and/or said articles, for example, fro m the neck of the user or operator.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of means conductive to a simplified dispenser structure on which used, as Well as unused, flashbulbs may be retained and readily removedtherefrom, if desired, and without the employment of any clamps and like fixing means.

A further object of the invention is to provide means ensuring repeated use of the pull-strap of the device and suitable formation and preparation of said strap to receive a plurality of flashbulbs and like articles in'orderly fashion, whereby said articles may be easily attached to and detached from said strap, as often as desired.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide means permitting convenient accommodation of the pull-strap in connection with the aforesaid receptacle structure and bulb carrier, as well as ready operation of said pull-strap therefrom for being employed as a bulb display and dispenser device.

It is still another object of the invention to provide means forming a receptacle for flashbulbs and like articles, and removably and replaceably supporting said flashbulbs or like articles within and without the receptacle.

The above and other objects and features will become apparent from the following detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view, partly in section, of the receptacle constructed according to the invention and with the carrier and strap in one position;

Fig. 2 shows a receptacle with the carrier and strap in another position;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the carrier and strap with flashbulbs supported thereon;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view partly in section through the carrier and strap showing the means for supporting flashbulbs;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a fiashbulb mounted thereon; and

Fig. 6 shows the strap and flashbulbs carried by an operator.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the device ac.- cording to the invention includes an outer receptacle 10 of corrugated cardboard or paper-like material, a carrier 29 of comparatively stiff material such as cardboard, and a pull-string or strap 30 of slightly resilient plastic or rubber-like material.

The outer receptacle 10 is. provided with substantially rectangular front and rear walls 11, 12, respectively. These walls 11, 12 may, however, be made so as to have any desired shape; e. g., like a truncated triangle which has rectilinear, curvilinear, or 'rnixtilinear sides so as to present any desired outward appearance. The outer receptacle 10 is also. provided with soft and pliable side walls 13, 14 which may be pleated or corrugated so as to allow the stretching or bending thereof. The front and rear walls 11, 12 may also be constructed so. as to allow the stretching or bending thereof. The outer receptacle 10 may be provided with tab means 15, including an ad, hesive portion 16 which may be joined over the end of the receptacle with the wall 12. Obviously, said tab means may otherwise be joined to the receptacle, for instance, by snap-fastener means,

The carrier 20 (seen in Fig. 1) has a length smaller than that of receptacle 1%, and it is provided with front and rear walls 21, 22, respectively. The walls 21, 22 includegroups of aligned openings 23, 24 having different diameterswhich openings are alternately disposed relative to each other. The group of larger openings 23 in front wall 21 is opposite the group of smaller openings 24. in rear wall 22, in order that the sockets 41 offiashbulbs 40 and like articles inserted within both said openings will be alternately disposed on opposite sides of carrier 20 (see Fig. 4.) and will rest in thelarger openings 23 while the reduced electric, contact nipples at the ends of the flashbulbs will rest in smaller openings 24.

The openings 23, 24 may be circular, rectangular or polygonal. Each group. of openings 23. and 24 may be of similar configuration and of equal dimension; or it may be of dissimilar configuration and unequal dimensions if such is deemed desirable, for instance, when bulbs hav ing different sizes are to bev shipped.

The. pull string, strap or looped means 39 is provided with aligned perforations 31 adapted to be disposed oppo site the openings 23 having the larger dimensions or diameters. The pull-string 30 includes means 32 for separably joining the ends thereof consisting of snap fastener means, shownin Figs. 2, 3 and 6. When the. socket 41 of flashbulbs 40 and like articles is inserted in perforations 31, the socket 41 is gripped and frictionally retained by the walls of the perforations due to the resilience of strap 30 (see Fig. 5) and due to the lateral projections on said socket, as shown.

In use of the above device, and referring to Fig. 2, the pull-string 30 may be grasped and some of the bulbs 40 with a portion of the carrier 23 will be withdrawn from the receptacle 10. However, the frictional engagement between the receptacle 1t and the carrier 20 is sufficient to prevent the separation thereof when the device is carried by holding pull-string 30.

Referring to Fig. 3, the flashbulbs 40 may be carried by the pull-string 30 and, in addition, they may be re ceived in the carrier 20.

As can be seen in Fig. 6, the pull-string 33 may be supported bandoleer-like around the neck of the operator and when one of the flashbulbs 40 has been used such as indicated at 42, it may be reinserted into the respective perforations 31 of the pull-string 30, as shown.

Referring again to Fig. 3, a U-shaped handle means 43 the strap with of plastic, resilient or string material may be attached to carrier 20. In such case, the handle means 43 performs described and shown in the drawing, it should be noted that the invention may be realized in modified form and adaptations of the arrangements herein disclosed may be made as may readily occur to persons skilled in the art without constituting a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the objects and in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be'secured by Letters Patent, is:

I. In combination, a holder having perforations, flashbulbs each having a reduced socket end with projections,

extending laterally beyond said end, with carrier means having openings normally retaining said reduced ends of said fiashbulbs and their projections, whereby the remainderof each of said fiashbulbs extends outwardly beyond said carrier means and is prevented from acci- For instance, when handle 7 dental removal therefrom, said holder being joined to said carrier means and including a loop portion for placement round the neck of an operator, said flashbulbs being singly removable from said openings below said loop portion and from'perforations when in registry with corresponding openings, said carrier means being made of yieldable material permitting passage of said projections through said openings upon pulling the reduced ends of said flashbulbs out of said openings.

2. In combination, a holder, at least one flashbulb hav- 7 ing a reduced socket end with projections extending laterally beyond said end, with carrier means having at least one opening normally retaining said reduced end of said flashbulb and projections thereof, whereby the remainder of said flashbulb extends outwardly beyond said carrier means and is prevented from accidental removal therefrom, said holder being joined to said carrier means and including a loop portion for placement around the neck of an operator, said flashbulb being removable from said opening below said loop portion, said carrier means being made of yieldable material permitting passage of said projections through said opening upon pulling the reduced end of said flashbulb out of said opening, said holder being provided with perforations, at least one of which being in registry with said opening of said carrier means, whereby said reduced end of said flashbulb is frictionally engaged in said one perforation and said one opening of said carrier means to join said holder and said carrier in separable relation.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said carrier means is provided-with openings arranged at opposite faces thereof, the opening at one face being arranged in staggered relation to the opening of the other face, said loop portion of said holder being foldable on one end face of said carrier means forpackaging purposes.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein said holder is made from plastic material and forms an endless band, said openings of said carrier means and said perfortions of said holder corresponding approximately to the diameter of said socket end, whereby the latter engages the walls defining said perforations and said openings under friction.

5. A device for dispensing flashbulbs and like articles having a socket portion with lateral projections and a reduced nipple at one end of said socket portion, com prising a carrier made of substantially stiflf material and provided with a pair of opposed and spaced longitudinal panels, said panels being provided with spaced apart larger and smaller openings alternating with each other for receiving said socket portions and said nipples, respectively, the larger openings on one of said panels being disposed opposite the smaller openings of the other panel,

and looped strap means made of plastic material and;

placed exteriorly of and in contact with said-panels and provided with perforations in registry with said larger openings of said panels, the bight portion of said looped strap means extending beyond saidcarrier for facilitating support of the latter, said articles being disposed along said opposed panels of said carrier with the socket portions thereof extending through the perforations of said strap means and through the corresponding larger openingsof at least one of said panels, respectively, and with the nip,-

- ples resting in the opposite smaller openings of theother panel, respectively, so that the remainder of each or said fiashbulbs lies outermost with respect to said carrier and said strap means, the lateral projections on said socket portions being disposed between said panels when said flashbulbs are retained on said carrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS 

